Talek's Trophy Tips: Conquering Cooty Wars

Ever wondered how to get that shiny golden trophy? Or chase up that elusive avatar? With guides abound, it has never been easier to get trophies. Everyone’s writing down tips, but you still can’t wrap your head around it? Talek will take you down the path towards the gamer superstardom. Follow this new series of “Talek’s Trophy Tips”, and every few weeks I will present you with a new tutorial how to make it to the top of the scoreboard. This article will provide a step-by-step tutorial and some advanced insight to reach that extra mile.

NOTE: This step-by-step guide will set you on the path to stand the highest chance of getting a champion trophy after the monthly trophy reset. For the month-to-month evolution of the scores, consult Sabre’s TrophyTracker petpage.

Conquering Cooty Wars

In the first entry of the series, together with Tangor, we were descending deep into the caverns of Moltara in order to master the craft of S.M.E.L.T.I.N.G. The second entry will lift us from the volcanic depths straight into the Neopian skies. In the role of the Cooty Commando, we will join the fray of war, albeit on a microscopic level, to help combat the impending aerial assault by the Mootix. However, Pest-B-Gone will do nothing to deter the invaders, and we will be left to our own devices - and our precision with the cursor - to stop the parachuting threat.

Basics

The game puts you in the role of a sniper inside a makeshift air balloon, tasked with taking down parachuting Mootix soldiers. Armed with but a trusty crossbow, you go through waves of denizens aiming to escape your wrathful gaze. In each wave, the Mootix swerve in from outside the screen, before opening their parachutes and descending towards the ground. With your mouse cursor you control the crosshair, aiming to pop the chutes before the targets disappear. Your field of view is limited by the confines of your balloon, forcing you to move your cursor to either side to adjust the screen.

In addition to the Mootix, there are three Petpetpets that appear sporadically on-screen. Each of these acts as a power up when hit before it exits the screen.

The Moquot will give a bonus of 25 points.

The Lightmite will freeze the screen for a few seconds, allowing you to take a brief breather or take an easy shot at on-screen targets.

The Squippit will hit all the parachutes on screen, giving you the points relating to how far the parachutists managed to descend at the time of clicking.

The Petpetpets will invariably go across the screen in a straight line from left to right and vice versa (the first Petpetpet almost always starts from left to right). In reality, the only worthwhile power up is the Moquot, as the other two will likely disrupt your game flow and give you fewer points.

Scoring

The scoring is fairly simple. You are given points for popping the parachute, depending on the distance the Mootix travelled upon opening it. The farther you allow it to go before popping, the more points you are awarded. Contrary to most sources, the points range from 1 to 10 per target (rather than 9), but going for the 10 points is not trustworthy as a strategy - as you will learn later on. Instead, you will have to aim for the 7-9 point range.

Progression

In total there are 5 levels in the game of increasing difficulty. Not only is the action faster as you progress, you are tasked with knocking down 10 more targets with each level - 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 respectively. Each level gives you 5 extra targets/misses before deeming the level a failure - 25, 35, 45, 55 and 65. When going for a high score, you will definitely have to reach the last level - but completing it successfully does not give any additional points.

Technique

Before talking about the aiming technique, take heed: shooting the Mootix instead of the parachute will cause it to swerve across to one side or diagonally, likely making you miss it entirely and disrupting your flow. Now that this is out of the way, let’s talk technique. There are 3 primary components: crosshair placement, clicking and tracking.

Crosshair placement defines where you place your crosshair on screen. As a Mootix starts to descend, it will start to shrink and descend top to bottom across the screen. There are two ways to go here: pre-aim the crosshair along the line and click as the target descends, or place the crosshair atop the parachute and drag it down before clicking. In broad strokes, either technique works. However, in later levels, it is likely you may miss the parachute whilst pre-aiming.

The issue can be slightly mitigated through clicking the target multiple times, or specifically, double-clicking: missing it for the first time may allow you to hit it on your second go. This technique comes with a caveat - sometimes you will accidentally hit the Mootix making it behave unpredictably and hindering your attempts. Spamming the left-click will invariably cause you to miss targets in later levels. As you play, choose whichever technique works best. However, it is not necessary to limit yourself to one - in certain circumstances it may well be worth mixing them up, such as when multiple targets appear at once on either side of the screen.

Now the last component is what I call tracking or dragging. The technique involves you tracking the Mootix with your crosshair as it descends. This is the definitive way to maximise your points and circumvent pre-aiming blunders. In conjunction with double-clicking, training this aspect will ensure you hit the target. As you aim, always try to aim below the parachute, then drag it down as the Mootix shrinks. Clicking it just below the parachute will still give you the points, and you are less likely to miss the target entirely. This is particularly important if you use stationary pre-aiming as you are more likely to miss targets in levels 4 and 5.

It is also very important to know that once your cursor reaches the far side, the field of view will turn to the side, showing one side and obscuring the other. The targets will also move more towards the center of your screen and the aiming angle will change. From level 2 onwards, the Mootices will start regularly appearing at either end, making it rather easy to miss them as the screen adjusts after turning. There are two ways to deal with them: either shoot their balloons as soon as they appear, or switch the screen. In the first few levels you can adjust the screen without risking much. In levels 4 and 5, I would try to click them as soon as you can to avoid turning away from Mootix potentially appearing elsewhere. This will be imperative in order to get a good enough score for gold.

NOTE: As with most games, it is possible to change the size of the game window. I would generally recommend to play/practice using the largest option.

Trophy Run

Now that you are ready to start your trophy run, let us look at the scores. The theoretical maximum is 2250 (2275 or 2300 with 1-2 bonus bugs), but realistically, the maximum stops at 2025. However, rest assured, in order to get a trophy, even on a champion level, you will not need a perfect score. Gold scores on reset cap out at 1550, but usually range between 1450 and 1550. Silver and bronze scores are much more unstable, however. To set a standard, you should aim for 900-1000 points for bronze and 1300-1400 for silver.

Now, if you are aiming for bronze, it is quite easy to get the required score without reaching level 5. With an average of 6 points per Mootix, you can get to 900-1000 in level 4. For the other two trophies, irrespectively of which you are aiming for, it will require getting to level 5 and scoring as many points as possible in level 5. The section below will focus on tips for each level assuming you are going for the highest honors and a score of 1550+.

Level 1

Level 1 will task you with shooting at least 20 out of 25 Mootix parachutists. This level is a good level to perfect your technique and learn to get 8-9 points per Mootix. The Mootix will start out slow, taking 3-4 seconds before disappearing off-screen, and it is very unlikely you will make multiple targets to deal with at once.

However, the easiest level in the game is nothing to scoff at - it is also the most important. If you are going for gold, you should not miss any Mootix and aim to have at least 200 points at the end. 220 would be ideal. Do not be particularly hard on yourself if you miss one, as long as you have 200+.

Level 2

Level 2 will speed up the pace and ask you to hit at least 30 out of 35 targets. The biggest difference in this level is the appearance of power up Petpetpets. Normally, one of each Petpetpet will appear on this level. While Lightmites and Squippits should be skipped outright, look out for the Moquot. In my personal attempts, I would sacrifice a Mootix to catch the Petpetpet. It is likely the Moquot will not appear on Level 2 and appear on Level 3 instead, so keep that in mind.

The level will not be particularly difficult overall, but it will be easier to miss a Mootix if you are going for straight 9’s. For newer players, I would recommend aiming for 7’s and not missing any. For the gold trophy goers, I would go for 8’s and 9’s, with the caveat you may miss some. Do not miss more than 3 though. With the Moquot bonus, you should be looking at 490 at the end of level 2 (500+ would be ideal). If you are going for a 1700+ score, you need at least 550 after this level. Whichever the goal, restart if you do not reach the threshold.

Level 3

Level 3 is practically the same as level 2, with a further increase in speed and requiring you to hit 40 out of 45 targets. As previously mentioned, any Petpetpets that did not appear on level 2 will appear on this one. In this level, I would advise going for 7’s and 8s, and skipping 9’s. Due to the speed of the descent, you will get 6’s and 7’s by default when clicking just under the parachute as they go down.

By end of level 3, you should be aiming at 800+ points for gold, and 850-ish for 1700+. As previously, restart if needed.

Level 4

On the surface, there is little change between Level 3 and Level 4, except for 50 out of 55 targets required to complete the level. In fact, you will notice how much faster the game goes and how inefficient predictive pre-aiming is as a technique. Likely, by this level you will start double-clicking to not miss the targets.

Now, if you are going for bronze, just playing this level should be enough. Much like in level 3, due to their drop speed, it is easy to get 6’s and 7’s, and you should go for them to avoid losing out on Mootices. Even if you have 700 at the end of level 3, you will accrue enough for a trophy even if you fail this level. However, for gold, you will have to be much more wary. Do not be particularly mindful if you miss five - so as long as you complete the level. Scores of 1500+ will be attainable if you can get 1150 at the end of level 4. For scores of 1700+, you would be aiming for 1280-1300+.

(As a point of reference, I had 1188 points at the end of level 4 when I got my gold score of 1588).

Level 5

If you manage to get to level 5 - and you will if you follow my guide and practice - you are well on your way towards gold. However, this level is hard. This level will throw multiple targets in quick succession and disrupt your flow quite easily. Good news - you do not have to complete it; hitting 60 out of 65 is as good as scoring 1. Just score as much as possible. Bad news - you will need 60+ hits for gold. In order to do that, you should be aiming to hit the targets as soon as they appear. The problem lies when they start appearing in multiples on either side of the screen, as turning the field of view can lead to easy misses. Remember, DON’T PANIC!. At this point, you have already reached the bare minimum. If you feel like you can go for a guaranteed 8 points over one missed Mootix, go for it. But it is always better to hit multiple concurrents over missing any.

(For reassurance, it is easy to string misses in a row, so do not be too worried. I had many attempts where I would only score 48-52 targets and get good enough scores for silver (1450-1530). For my gold score I had to hit 61 targets.)

End Note

This was the end of the second edition of Talek’s Trophy Tips on Cooty Wars. The guide should set you on track to get that coveted Cooty Wars trophy. Remember: practice makes perfect. Train your technique and use the level point requirements to guide you. For any other games, look out for further trophy tips in future editions of the Neopian Times. Now, go get ready for war, soldier!

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Struggling to get a trophy? Want tips on a certain game? Neomail me and I will consider including the game in an upcoming article for Talek’s Trophy Tips.

Thank you to Sabre’s TrophyTracker petpage for the average reset scores.

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